Corporate Social Responsibility

Marjorie Kelly, editor of Business Ethics magazine, reflects on the "perfect storm in ethics" that has unfolded despite a burgeoning corporate social responsibility (CSR) movement. CSR has failed, she says, because "fluff is not enough." It's time, Kelly says, to begin "talking about system design, understanding why corporations behave so single-mindedly. And that means focusing on power.

A PR firm's survey shows that fewer companies are devoting time and resources to corporate social responsibility. Jericho Communications polled 264 CEOs of Fortune 1,000 companies and found that 52 percent of the respondents believe corporations acting responsibly can weaken the influence of terrorist groups, while 36 percent are more conscious of corporate social responsibility since the Sept. 11 attacks.

Our latest issue of PR Watch exposed the gap between words and deeds at the United Nations World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, South Africa. Amid lofty-sounding proclamations, the Bush administration and business lobbyists are blocking measurable standards and accountability, while pausing for periodic photo opportunities with the same environmental, labor and human rights groups that they are working to neutralize.

In the wake of recent corporate scandals, Business Ethics magazine, which promotes the movement for corporate social responsibility, is facing up to some unpleasant realities. "It appears that much of the corporate social responsibility movement has dealt in peripheral matters, in language, in mechanical social screens.